crystalhallfandomcom-20200216-history
Keeping Cool
Keeping Cool, by Wasamon, is Pat “Hat Trick” Barnes’ origin story. It is being published in two parts, on 2019-02-11, and 2019-02-25, and covers from 2016-07-03 to 2016-07-15. It is followed by I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore, although there may be an intervening story that pulls this story together with The Quantum Suicides. Summary Part 1 Part 1 was published on 2019-02-11 and covers 2016-07-03 to 2016-07-06. 2016-07-03 During the third of July fireworks display, a villain named Malypense robs the St. Louis Art Museum, stealing an antique necklace of rubies and garnets. He’s pursued by a gaggle of St. Louis superheroes with no success. Patrick Dulles was watching the action from a tree when the villain swerved in his direction, sparks from some of the heroes dripping and actually hitting him. One flaming spark went down his shirt before he could pat it out. Patrick heads to his home in a run-down trailer park and his abusive mother. He’s five minutes late. Not good. It really sucks to be looking forward to school bullies as being better than life here. That night, after he gets to sleep, he has a very unusual dream. Some kind of being asks him what he wants. After discovering that the choices are pretty unappealing, he says he wants to be cool. The being asks him what cool means. He explains. 2016-07-04 Pat Dulles woke up soaked. He heads for a shower, and discovers that he’s turned into a girl. A girl who looks nothing like him. He hides in bed until his second alarm goes off. Then he considers what his mother is likely to do when she discovers him - now her. Oh, shit. Pat manages to get some stuff together and then leaves, only to discover mom pulling into the driveway. He pulls an escape worthy of a slapstick troupe and the Keystone Kops, and then he’s away. Once he’s far enough, he calls Lara, the only friend he has who he thinks has a chance of helping. He arranges to meet her in a park on the other side of the river. Pat manages to convince her that she’s really the old Pat with a new frame, and she gets invited to stay at her Grammy’s house on condition that she look after the old lady. They finish making a fourth of July picnic and then head to the park. Grammy shoos Lara and Pat off, and Lara starts showing her true colors. Pat lies awake and finally decides to cut the jewel between her breasts out. Grammy intercepts her, and then they go upstairs for a Tarot reading. It helps settle Pat, but after he goes to sleep Grammey takes out her crystal ball - that she hasn’t used in years. 2016-07-05 Grammy assesses the state of Pat’s wardrobe and decides it simply will not do. She sends Lara and Pat on a shopping expedition for a new wardrobe for Pat; Lara promptly decides that she’s going to get the new wardrobe. Then a school friend, Dina Radford, intervenes, and Pat gets a new outfit while Lara stews. Then Lara meets Terry Lambert, the boyfriend that Grammy disapproves of, and Pat decides to spend the next hour in the bookstore. He buys two books: one on St. Louis superheroes, and the other on Gender Dysphoria in Teenagers. Lara decides to get even by telling Grammy that Pat can play the piano. He can’t, but he puts in a very good performance anyway. The power of Cool. Lara is frosted. Pat and Lara have a bit of a spat in the garden. Pat decides to stay there for a while, but he gets the idea that someone is watching him occasionally. It’s Grammy, but he doesn’t know that. Later he reads the book on superheroes. When he gets to Pompatus, he begins to put several things together with something Grammy had said. After Lara goes to sleep, he talks to Grammy, and discovers that she was a super heroine named Madame Mystique back in the 60s, and that Pompatus was her husband, Maurice. She tells Pat a bit of family history and gives him the Tarot deck and a basic book on Tarot, saying they’re just tools. 2016-07-06 Grammy attends church twice a week, and the two girls have to go with her. As a penance or something, Grammy had set out two dresses her daughter had worn a long, long time ago. Hideous and hideouser. Pat got first pick, and chose blue. Lara got hideouser, When he checked, he looked like he was auditioning for a role in Alice in Wonderland - as Alice. During church, Pat's cool interacts with … something … and only Grammy’s intervention prevents everyone from seeing him turn to gold during the communion. Grammy puts Lara to sleep on the way home, and then asks Pat outright what’s going on. He panics. A few minutes later, he’s in a vacant playground, trying to put himself together when his phone rings. It’s Grammy. He finally breaks down and starts talking about what happened. Part 2 Part 2 was published on 2019-02-25. It covers 2016-07-06 to 2016-07-16. 2016-07-06 After the children are asleep, Grammy sends a report in to the DPA. 2016-07-07 That afternoon, Pat digs into the gender book and gets some answers. 2016-07-09 Pat goes to Dina’s party and gets introduced around. Grammy talks the situation over with her buddies in the back room of Cynthia’s antique store. Louie reports that the necklace has been returned, minus one small stone. They talk for a while about power gems, but the usual power gem doesn’t fit the situation. The statue of Billikin is unresponsive - until after they all leave. At Dina’s party, Dina’s older brother, Dylan Radford, tries to use a mind control power on Pat. It doesn’t work, and Pat calls him out and retaliates. after some back and forth, he installs mind shields on Dina, her parents and her younger brother. He also discovers, or at least notices, that his coolness power only works when there are people in range. Grammy gets home and finds a message waiting. It’s from the DPA and is totally confusing. She calls Janceena Sevcik, one of her DPA friends and contacts, and discusses the situation. Pat gets back from the party, and tells Grammy what happened. 2016-07-10 Pat wakes up with his phone beeping at him. It’s Dina with a report on what happened after he left and an invitation to a shopping date. Grammy decides to skip church. Lara tries to put her foot in her mouth and is expertly headed off. He has an excellent shopping expedition with Dina and her mother, including a lunch at the high-end restaurant in the building. Then Dina’s mother asks him about her background, to get to know her better. He sweats a bit, but tells them. Then he and Dina doze a bit while Mrs. Radford goes off to do something else. He hears someone who doesn’t seem to be there saying they make a cute couple. When they get back, the Radfords stay for tea. Laura finally unloads her denunciation of Pat, only to find out that everyone already knows. Laura storms out and Grammay goes to make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid - she catches her just in time and hexes her so she won’t interfere. Mrs. Radford dresses Pat up as a boy. He and Dina dance a bit. They discuss the call from Mr. Radford, and then a DPA agent shows up with “Little Louie”, who is actually the 4th Spirit of St. Louis. After the agents leave, they spend a little time looking at the picture of the old St. Louis Six team and identifying them. That evening, Grammy works in her loft trying to discern what the future holds and what can be directed. The crystal ball starts out by..taking her back through what happened to her husband and her part in it. Then she begins work on Pat. She comes to a decision, and begins work on writing down things that various people have to do. 2016-07-12 Pat, Dina and Laura go with a small clutch of boys and Mrs. Radford go to see a movie. When Laura is out of the house, Bertram DeMille, one of the original St. Louis Six, comes in and tries to get her to turn over the gem, Proserpina’s Tear”. She refuses and has him kill her in order to set the next stage of the plan in motion. When they arrive back at the house, they find that Grammy has died in their absence. Marnie Washington, Grammy’s daughter and Laura’ mother, arrived a few hours later. 2016-07-14 At Grammy funeral, Pat meets both the old and new St. Louis superheroes, and gets their autographs. 2016-07-15 Pat picks up Grammy’s spell book, to hold until her actual successor shows up. Then he packs and heads out with a bus ticket to a completely fictitious relative. He parts with Dina, who has her own letter from Grammy saying that she’ll be going to school with Pat next January. Pat follows the instructions in his letter, and winds up in front of room 316 in a motel. After a bit of angst, the door opens and he sees the Barnes family. Characters In order of appearance, except some are moved up to keep families and teams together. Part 1 *Malypense - supervillain - seen in action *Gateway Guardians (2016) - current St. Louis Superhero team **Spirit of St. Louis 4 - Louis Farnham the 4th - “Little Louie - local superhero, fourth of that name, seen in action **Red Kite - local superhero, seen in action **Gear Grinder - local superhero **MoMo Master - local superhero **Billiken - local superhero or something - (mentioned) *Patrick Eustace Dulles - protagonist - eventually becomes Pat Barnes *Pat’s mother *Kyle Webster - bully (mentioned) *Terry Lambert - bully - Lara’s current boyfriend *Proserpina’s Tear - a magic gem *Gerald Mathers - gang member (one scene) *Charlie Kotter - gang member (one scene) *Dwayne Guerrero - gang member (one scene) *Washington family **Grammercie LeRoi **? Washington - father - first name not mentioned (yet) **Marnie Washington **Lara Washington *Gateway Guardians (1960) - superhero team from the 60s. **Madame Mystique - Grammercie LeRoi - Grammy - Lara’s grandmother. 6th generation legacy witch (but Lara doesn’t know). **Pompatus - Maurice (LeRoi?) - Grammy’s husband - deceased, mentioned **Spirit of St. Louis 2 - Louie - one of Grammy’s friends **Mirabelle - Cynthia - one of Grammy’s friends **Golden Gloves - Lloyd - one of Grammy’s friends **Bantam - Bertram DeMille - left under a cloud in the late 60s **Scratch-The-Cat - likewise *Becca - one of Lara’s girlfriends *Ashleigh - one of Lara’s girlfriends *Mairead - one of Lara’s girlfriends *Radford family (Only Dina is in Part 1. Everyone else is from Part 2.) **Dina’s father (no first name yet) **Debra Radford - Dina’s mother **Dylan Radford - projective telepath **Dina Radford - school friend of both of them **David Radford - younger brother *White Knight - super on the KKK side during the 50s and 60s (Mention) *Deteriorata - villian who killed Pompatus before being captured (Mention) *Church ladies *Father Rogers - priest at St. Anastasia Catholic Church Part 2 *Janceena Sevcik- DPA agent *Litwick - agent attached to Oklahoma office. *Luke - someone else in the OKC office *Franklin O’Keefe - DPA agent from Chicago office. *Molochi - probable villain (mention) *Barnes family **Moonbrook - Myra **Maidenclaw - Na’Chessa Rakia **Retrofit - Marcus Category:Stories Category:Gen2 Category:Wasamon Category:St. Louis